The Brooklyn Museum will launch a series of monthly film presentations in the 460-seat Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium as a part of the weekly Thursdays @ 7 programming, when the Museum remains open until 10 p.m. The film series, which will usually take place the fourth Thursday of each month, except during holidays, will focus on documentaries and films by or about women and people of color as well as on films by local directors and exhibition-related films. It will debut tonight, July 26 with a series of critically acclaimed documentary features presented in partnership with POV and FilmWax. The films will be premiering at the Brooklyn Museum, prior to airing nationally on PBS. The schedule is as follows:

July 26, 7 p.m.I'm Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful (Jonathan Demme, 2011, 90 min.)This critically acclaimed documentary, filmed over the course of five years, debuted at the Venice International Film Festival in 2011. It features the last resident to leave New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward following a mandatory evacuation order prior to Hurricane Katrina; she was also one of the first to return to the flood-devastated community, determined to bring her ruined home back to life. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producer Daniel Wolff.

August 23, 7 p.m.Give Up Tomorrow (Michael Collins, 2011, 90 min.)As a tropical storm beats down on an island in the Philippines, two sisters leave work and never make it home. Paco Larrañaga, a 19-year-old student, is sentenced to death for their rape and murder, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence. This award-winning documentary exposes shocking corruption within the judicial system of the Philippines and casts a light on one of the most sensational trials in the country's history. Two grieving mothers, entangled in a case that ends a nation's use of capital punishment but fails to free an innocent man, dedicate more than a decade to executing or saving him. A Q&A with the filmmakers will follow.